PDD conference call: Over 620 million users received subsidies totaling 10 billion RMB on Double 11, Temu has entered more than 50 countries and regions, and will continue to invest decisively and patiently

On March 20th, "Chinese Concept Star" Pinduoduo released a four-season report that exceeded Wall Street's expectations in all aspects. In its eighth year since establishment, the company maintained a high-speed growth rate. With quarterly revenue doubling to reach 88.88 billion RMB, operating profit also achieved a 146% year-on-year growth.

During the subsequent earnings conference call, Pinduoduo's management stated that 2023 is a year for Pinduoduo to fully embrace high-quality development. By enriching the supply of high-quality products and increasing subsidies for improvement-oriented consumer goods such as domestic trendy products and imported goods, the company successfully promoted consumption upgrades and income growth.

Looking ahead to 2024 or the medium to long term, Pinduoduo will continue to deepen its high-quality development strategy, optimize the shopping experience, enhance user engagement, and create more value for consumers and merchants. Additionally, Pinduoduo will continue to promote agricultural development, strengthen research and support for technology-assisted agriculture, and contribute to rural revitalization and increased farmer income.

Furthermore, the management also revealed that since the launch of its global business Temu in September 2022, it has entered more than 50 countries and regions worldwide.

The following is a transcript of the analyst Q&A session:

Q1: How does Pinduoduo evaluate the strategic execution in the past year? Did the actual results meet the team's initial expectations? Looking ahead to 2024 or the medium to long term, what changes will there be in the company's strategic focus?

2023 is the beginning year of high-quality development for Pinduoduo Group. In the past year, the company has made good progress and received positive feedback in consumer end, supply end, and platform ecosystem. These achievements have further strengthened our confidence in long-term investment on the path of high-quality development.

We have already entered multiple countries and regions. Facing diverse consumer habits, cultures, and market environments, we always believe that consumers' demand for affordable and quality services from e-commerce platforms remains unchanged. Therefore, in the fourth quarter, the company continued to increase investment in the high-quality development strategy according to the previous pace and maintained focus on consumer demand in different market environments.

Looking ahead to 2024 or the medium to long term, the company's strategic focus will not change. It will continue to adhere to the high-quality development strategy, optimize the shopping experience, enhance user engagement, and create more value for consumers and merchants.

Q2: How does the management evaluate Pinduoduo's performance during the fourth quarter promotion period? What is the relationship between the fourth quarter promotion activities and first quarter performance?

The fourth quarter promotion activities received positive feedback from consumers.

At the consumer end, we always prioritize consumer demand. The fourth quarter is the peak season for e-commerce platforms, and we launched a series of innovative, direct, and interesting promotion activities tailored to different markets to lower the consumption threshold and allow consumers to improve their quality of life in a more economical and convenient way.

For example, we introduced the first-time single-item deduction gameplay on top of the billion subsidy. During last year's Double 11 period, the number of users participating in Pinduoduo's billion subsidy activities exceeded 620 million, and the order volume of billion subsidies doubled year-on-year. At the same time, Pinduoduo's value was widely recognized by merchantsThe brand merchants and the number of products participating in the platform's promotional activities have reached new highs, achieving mutual growth for the platform and merchants.

On the supply side, Pinduoduo (PDD) continues to allocate platform resources to high-quality suppliers and merchants to provide more quality products to consumers. Through these services, PDD helps global small and medium-sized merchants expand their market reach, while continuously enriching the product categories for platform users, thus creating a positive cycle in the platform ecosystem and ultimately achieving a win-win situation for both the supply and demand sides.

A healthy ecosystem is the foundation for the sustainable development of the platform. The company has taken a series of specific measures to strengthen platform governance, such as proactively identifying risks, systematically governing products and stores, protecting minors and copyrights, which have yielded good results. Furthermore, we are committed to continuing to actively assume platform responsibilities, creating a trustworthy shopping environment for consumers, and providing a good business environment for merchants.

Despite the positive market feedback from the fourth-quarter promotional activities, the company values more the long-term healthy development of the platform over short-term marketing effects, and how to better meet consumers' continuous demand for high-quality and low-priced products throughout the year.

Over the eight years since its founding, PDD has been focusing on its core business and has built a good brand image and reputation among a large number of consumers through continuous investment. Today's achievements are not only the short-term effects brought by the last quarter's promotional activities, but more importantly, the returns from long-term investments made in the past.

Q3: Could you please share the management's views on the domestic consumption market for the next year? Has the company observed any new trends in the first quarter? Additionally, what are the management's judgments on the future profit margin trends and shareholder return policies?

In the past year, we have truly felt the depth, breadth, and resilience of China's consumption market. We are confident in the future of the consumption market. Through the platform's activities and transaction trends, we can see that consumer confidence is continuously increasing. We also look forward to the new year, where with more stable economic conditions and policies promoting consumption, consumer confidence will further strengthen.

We believe that there are three main driving forces behind the long-term positive trend of the consumption market. Firstly, consumers' expectations and pursuit of a higher quality of life are the fundamental driving force behind consumption growth.

Secondly, with technological advancements, new formats and models in the retail industry are emerging, which also drive the continuous increase in the penetration rate of online retail, laying a foundation for the industry's long-term development.

Thirdly, with industrial upgrades, more high-quality and branded products are entering the market, meeting consumers' demand for quality goods. This trend not only enhances consumers' quality of life but also provides more opportunities for retail platforms.

Although PDD is still in a development stage, short-term profitability is not the company's primary consideration at this stage. The company focuses more on building long-term value rather than pursuing short-term profits. PDD's strategic focus remains on high-quality development, aligning with the interests of investors in recent years.

Q4: Could the management share their views on profitability and whether there are plans for share buybacks and dividends in the future?

We always emphasize that we are still in a development stage, and profitability is not our top priority. Our strategic focus is on high-quality development, so we will concentrate on establishing the long-term value of the platform, which is in line with the interests of our investorsOver the past few years, we have made investments in several key areas based on our strategy of high-quality development. For example, we continue to give back to consumers and deepen our market share. We also remain committed to research and development, with R&D investment exceeding 10% of our revenue for the second consecutive year. These investments have already yielded favorable initial returns.

In the future, we will continue to make decisive and patient investments, believing that this will bring long-term return potential.

Q5: What is Pinduoduo's plan for its global business (Temu)? Are there any new thoughts or strategies to share? How does the company balance compliance with business development? Additionally, with intensified domestic competition, what is the company's response strategy?

Our vision is to leverage our supply chain and technological capabilities to bring excellent merchants and quality goods to global consumers, helping them realize their consumption dreams. Currently, our global business is still in its early stages, facing many uncertainties and challenges. To address these unknowns, what we can control is to continuously improve ourselves, learn sincerely from consumers and the market, actively explore technological and model innovations, and adhere to a strategy of high-quality development.

In terms of legal compliance, we place high importance on legal compliance, as it is the foundation of the company's business development and an important part of strategic planning. The company established a Legal and Compliance Committee last year, chaired by Chen Lei himself. The company is dedicated to continuously improving internal monitoring mechanisms and processes, humbly staying informed of the latest industry legal regulations, and communicating and cooperating with relevant regulatory authorities in various countries.

The company's requirements in the field of legal compliance are to meet industry-leading standards and will continue to invest in and research to "escort" the long-term healthy development of the platform.

Competition is the theme of the e-commerce industry. Our competitive strategy always revolves around the essence, starting from understanding and meeting consumer needs. Although the market environment and competitive landscape may change, consumers' fundamental needs for e-commerce platforms, "more affordable, better service," remain unchanged.

Firstly, the company will continue to deepen its understanding of consumers, solidify consumer mindshare, meet consumer needs by providing more affordable products and services, and closely monitor consumer demands for product categories and price ranges. The company will implement simple and direct promotional activities to reward consumers, further strengthening the platform's user mindshare. This is the foundation that the company needs to continuously invest in.

Secondly, a good consumer experience is not just about price but also includes service. The company will comprehensively and continuously upgrade the entire shopping process, including pre-sales consultation, logistics, fulfillment, after-sales service, and consumer protection, to ensure that consumers can shop with peace of mind and enjoy a safe and pleasant shopping experience.

Furthermore, as a technology company, the company will continue to increase R&D investment, adhere to the principle of technology for good, continuously strengthen platform empowerment capabilities, promote the digital transformation of industries such as agriculture and manufacturing, enhance product added value, and introduce more popular products to the market.

The company believes that by focusing on these areas crucial for long-term value creation, it can maintain stability in a competitive environment, continuously improve itself, and create greater value for consumers and society